Improvement in railway car-coupling



To all whmn it may concern.

@anni f WiLLIAM ncnnsstnaor MUNo'Y, PENNSYLVANIA.

- Letters Pennant. mangeant my 17,' 1870.

mriRovnMnNr IN RAILWAY 'cru-ooUPLINe.k

Be it lknown that I, WILLIAM F. Gnnssnnn, of Muncy, 1n the'county of Lycoming and State ot' Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Au.-

. tomatic Oar-Couplings; VandI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description there# of; reference being had to the annexed drawings making part of thsspeciication, in which- Figure l is'a perspective view of my improved coup ling, showingthe coupling link in position, lthe means i for holding it in such position, and the general con? struct-ion ot the buffer-head, to which 'the parts are attached.' l A' Figure 2 is a vertical sectional elevation,y on line r x, of iig. 1, showing the.l position of the jaws which clasp and-hold the ccuplingLlink, when` extended by such link in dotted lines, and .their position when not p thus dlstended in full lines, and also the support upon which the coupling-pin rests when raised to the'topot the head.

F1gure3 ist a sectional elevation, on .liney y, of

lig.' 1.

Figure 4 is a. horizontal section, on linez z', of g. 1.

Corresponding letters refer to corresponding parts in all the figures.v

That it is desirable to have a safe and automatic car-coupling has long been' acknowledged by all persons engaged in operating railroads, and the object of this invention is to provide such a device,'which shall ,i be free Afrom the objections urged against previous ones, such airone asshall hold't-he linkin position for entering the buffer-head ot' the car to which it may be desired to couple the one -in which the link is fixed, andwhichshall also hold the coupling-pin in position, and permit it to drop into'such' link when the bufferj heads ofthe two cars are brought into contact with Veach other. And to this' end this invention consists in zthe combination and arrangement of' the parts ot' which the device isl composed, as will he more fully described hereinafter.l

To-cnable thoseskilledin the art to make and use' my invention, I will'proceed to 'describe its construction and operation.

4upon its under :side for strengthening and supporting the parts. j

VA refers to a yoke or band Vot' metal, the end s of which are lirmlyy secured tothe front plate ofthe head, its rear portion passing around the jaws, and receivingand. supporting ther lower bar ot' the bufferhead A.` i 1 vB refers-to a Vcoupling-pin, which may be made of abar or rodof iron, of any preferred form, round, oval, rectangular, or square, it being provided, upon its upper end," with a suitable handle for raising it, and upon kits lower end with 'a collar or washer, which may purpose of preventing 'the pinfrom coming out of fthe buffer-head, afterv it has once been placed therein,

until it isis desirableto remove it for repars. j

O Cirefer to t-he'jaws ot' steel, or other suitable material, which are bent into the form shown in the drawings; and placed'in the space between the bars forming the head, they being held ,in their positions by means of ears upon their rear ends, througli which passes the bolt or pin D, as shown ing. 1.

Upon the front endsv of these jaws flanges are turned upon the plates which constitute such jaws, or they may be bolted thereto, their inner edges or surA faces being serrated, so as to enable them to receive and hold the coupling-linkl at any desired height, and thus enable the attendant tov couple together cars of' varying heights. j j j To the'rear portion of yoke A', suitably strong, springs. C are attached, the forward ends of which bear against the jaws C, so that when thepn B `has been raised above the upper edge of the jaws, Aand the coupling-link is withdrawn, the forward ends of such jaws will be thrown or pushed toward each other' by such springs. j

-To'the upper edge of the jaws C, and so as to come directly under the aperture in the head, through which the coupling-pin passes,'there are attached pieces of metal, which project inwardly, so as .to meet veach other when the jaws are in their closed position.

These plates form a support orrest for the coupling-pin, when it is in itsraised position, as shown-in fig. 2, they -being so arranged as to hold the pin thus,

and so as'to permit it to drop when the't'ront ends of the jaws are pressed apart by the coupling-link as it enters between them.

D refers to a rod or bolt which, passing through the .ears of -the jaws, extends from the upper bar of the head to the brace below, to both of which itvis secured t by riveting, or in any other convenient manner-,its purpose being tostrengthen these parts, and to hold i`n position the jawsa 0, for which purpose a collar is placed upon its lower end, upon which the lower'ears ofthe jaws rest.

' .E refers to a bar of metal, the iiont'surface of which is serrated, to correspond with theiianges of the jaws C, it being 'placed between the arms or sides ot' such jaws, and in rear of the point where the coupling-pin passes down through the saine, its ofce being to receive and hold the rea'end of the coupling-link, as it is thrust between the jaws, such jaws holdingits outer portion in position, or acting in conjunction with this What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patbar for this purpose. ent, is

It is apparent that a. curved piece of metal of :my v The combination of the serrated jaws C, springs C', form, which can be placed in the rear portion of the 1 and serrated bar E, substantially as :md for the purjnws, it having upon its inner face 'corrugetions, may pose set forth.. be substituted for this bnr. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to F refers to the coupling-link, which may be made this specification in the presence of two subscribing of round or square iron, and which should be of such witnesses.

length as to admit of the ears passing freely around i NVM. F. GRASSLER. curves, but not so long as to cause too much eoncusl Witnesses:

sion in stopping or starting a. train. JGS. R. WHITACRE,

Having thus described my invention, EzRA CHAPPELL. 

